The advent of Zarduhsht is described. Gushtásp is converted, and war ensues between him and the Túránian king Arjásp. Gushtásp is helped out of many straits by his valiant son, Asfan-diyár, who is incited to exertion by the promise of the kingship. Gushtásp, however, always finds fresh excuses for delaying his own abdication, and at length, being much pressed by Asfandiyár, sends him to bring Rustam in chains to court, with tragic results to all parties concerned. Gushtásp bestows the kingship on Bahman, the son of Asfandiyár, and dies.

The reign of Gushtásp falls naturally into four Parts. It is not, however, so divided, as indicated by the independent num­bering of the couplets of each Part, either in the Vullers-Landauer text, from which our translation is made, or in that of Mohl. In Macan's edition the couplets are not numbered. The division into Parts is a convenient arrangement. We have adopted it in the present instance, and propose to do so in future cases when the reign is long and the subject-matter lends itself to such treatment.

To the student of the Sháhnáma the reign is one of much interest for many reasons. It contains a fine example of poetic justice, inasmuch as Gushtásp, having embittered the life of his own father,*

now finds himself, owing to rash promises,*

placed in a similar quandary with regard to his own son, Asfandiyár. There is the question, too, as to the position that he occupies from the standpoint of history. We have the account of the advent of Zarduhsht (Zoroaster), his preaching and the conse­quent conversion of Gushtásp, and, what renders this still more interesting, not in Firdausí's own words but in those of his con­temporary Dakíkí, whose untimely death gave Firdausí the great opportunity of his life—one of which he was prompt to avail himself. Here, too, for the first time, we are enabled to compare the Sháhnáma with an extant Pahlaví version of the same subject-matter, and can see for ourselves how closely Dakíkí followed his authorities, just as later on we shall be enabled to compare Firdausí's own work with a similar extant Pahlaví version, when we come to the Ashkánian dynasty and the account therein given of the rise to power of Ardshír Pápakán, the founder of the Sásánian dynasty. Here, too, the great champion of priestly tradi­tion—Asfandiyár—is introduced and brought face to face with the great hero of popular tradition—Rustam. In this reign, too, the long life of the latter hero comes to an end, and Firdausí tells us whence he obtained the information that enabled him to include his account of that end in the poem. We have also in his continuation of Dakíkí what we may regard, not, indeed, as the earliest of his literary efforts, but the earliest in intentional connexion with the Sháhnáma. It is interesting, too, to compare the styles of the two poets, though that is rather for the student of the original than for the reader of the translation.

For Gushtásp, see Vol. ii. p. 9. We may, however, add a few words on the way in which some of the more salient features of the historical epoch associated with the names of Cyrus and Darius Hystaspis are indicated in the legendary accounts of Kai Khusrau, Luhrásp, and Gushtásp. The Achæmenids, as is well known, ruled in a double collateral line—an elder and a younger. With the death of Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, the elder line came to an end. The rightful heir, so to speak, was the head of the younger line—Hystaspes—a man, as later events showed, not lacking in vitality and courage, for as Governor of Parthia he maintained the cause of his house energetically during the troublous times that followed the accession of his more famous son, Darius I., to the throne. Why Hystaspes stood aside in favour of his son it is difficult to see, but the facts, if we leave out of account the reign of Cambyses, seem clearly reproduced in legendary form in the Sháhnáma. Kai Khusrau, before his passing, appointed a distant, little-known Kaiánian collateral— Luhrásp—to succeed him, but Luhrásp was overshadowed com­pletely by his more famous son, Gushtásp, in whose favour ultimately he retired. In a time of stress later on, however, he is represented as fighting gallantly. Again, the period ushered in by the death of Cambyses was one of great religious and political disturbance. Magism became very prominent in the person of the false Smerdis, and, whatever interpretation we put upon the statement in the Bihistún inscription, that he destroyed the temples of the gods and that Darius restored them,*

it is evident that some grave religious question was at stake. Further, the accession of Darius was the signal for a series of revolts extending over several years and involving nearly the whole empire. It was only after a most desperate struggle that the genius of Darius triumphed. Among his other enemies, he had to contend against the northern foe—the Scythians—and later on led a famous expe­dition against them to the banks of the Danube. These three features of his reign—the religious question, civil war, and wars with the Scythians—are all indicated in a legendary form in the reign of Gushtásp. The religious question is very prominent, the civil war is represented by the fact that the leaders on both sides have Persian names,*

while the wars themselves are waged against a northern foe. Again, the information that we possess seems to indicate that Darius was the Constantine the Great of his time, and changed his religion in the course of his reign*

just as Gushtásp is represented as doing in the Sháhnáma. Zarduhsht “came” to Darius in a spiritual sense just as he came in the flesh, traditionally, to Gushtásp. Lastly, Darius married the widow of Cambyses—Atossa. There is no trace of this in the Sháhnáma, where Gushtásp is represented as marrying Cæsar's daughter, Katáyún, but it is worth mentioning with a view of connecting him with Darius Hystaspis that, as West has sug­gested, *

the name of Gushtásp's wife in the Zandavasta—Hutaosa —bears a striking resemblance to that of Darius' wife.

Many of the chief characters of this reign appear in the Zanda-vasta, with the exception of Zál and his descendants, who were either not known to, or were ignored by, its compilers. Luhrásp appears as Aurvat-aspa, but is mentioned merely as the father of Gushtásp.

Gushtásp, who appears as Vistáspa, had one of its Books—the Vístásp-sást—named after him. It dealt with his conversion by Zarduhsht (Zoroaster) and his subsequent war with Arjásp. It is partly extant.*

Gushtásp has the distinction of appearing in the Gáthas—the oldest part, as generally is held, of the Zanda-vasta. Elsewhere in it he is represented as praying that he may overcome and put to flight Arjásp and others.*

His triumph over them also is recorded.*

Zarír, Gushtásp's brother, appears as Zairi-vairi, and is repre­sented as offering up sacrifices that he may overcome Arjásp.*

Asfandiyár, the most famous of Gushtásp's sons, appears as Spentó-dáta.*

He is not nearly so much in evidence as one would expect in view of the important place that he occupies in later tradition, where he becomes a sort of Zoroastrian Khálid, spreading the Faith with fire and sword. The chief credit is given to Gush-tásp himself.

Bishútan, Asfandiyár's brother, appears as Peshó-tanu, and is described as exempt, like Kai Khusrau, from sickness and death.*

Gurazm, probably another brother, though the Sháhnáma leaves the exact relationship indefinite, appears as “the holy Kavárazem.”*

In the Sháhnáma, however, he has an evil reputation as the slanderer of Asfandiyár, who in consequence is imprisoned by Gushtásp.

Humái, Asfandiyár's sister, appears as Huma.*

Nastúr, Zarír's son, seems to be the same as “the holy Basta-vairi.” *

If so, we should read Bastúr for Nastúr.

Jámásp, Gushtásp's chief minister, is mentioned in the Gáthas as well as elsewhere in the Zandavasta. He married one of Zarduhsht's daughters,*

wrote down the Zandavasta,*

and suc­ceeded the Prophet as high priest of Írán.*

Further mention will be made of him, Gushtásp, Asfandiyár, and Bishútan below.

Árish, who is merely referred to, appears in the Zandavasta as Erekhsha khshviwi-ishush, and in Pahlaví as Árish Shívátír, i.e. “Árish of the swift arrow.” He was a famous Íránian archer, and after a war, not mentioned in the Sháhnáma, between Minúchihr and Afrásiyáb, was deputed to settle the frontier between Írán and Túrán, by shooting an arrow from the top of Mount Damá-wand, the boundary to be wherever the arrow fell. He shot accordingly. The arrow flew eastward from dawn till noon, and then dropped on the banks of the Jíhún (Oxus).*

In the Zandavasta, as we have seen already, the foes of the Íránians, e.g. Zahhák*

and Afrásiyáb,*

offer sacrifices and pray for boons in just the same way as the Íránians themselves do, and to the same divine beings. Similarly we find Arjásp and his brother Andarímán, who appear in the Zandavasta as Aregat-aspa and Vandaremaini respectively, praying for victory over Gushtásp and Zarír.*

It should be mentioned, however, that Arjásp is not called a Túránian, as Afrásiyáb is,*

but a Hvyaona.*

Who the Hvyaonas were is a disputed point. Their name has suggested both the Hiong-Nu of Chinese records, who may or may not have been the Huns,*

and the Chionitæ of Ammianus Marcellinus, who refers to their political relations with the Sásánian Sháh Sapor II. in the middle of the fourth century A.D.*

The identification of the Hvyaonas—the Khyóns of the Pahlaví Texts and of the Yátkár-i-Zarírán*

—with the Chionitæ is a very probable one, and bears out the view adopted in this work that the legends of the Sháhnáma originated, and its chief scene of action lay, at least during most of the mythical period, west of the Caspian.*

The Chionitæ are associated with the Gelani or people of Gílán, by Ammianus Marcellinus,*

and Gushtásp is represented in the Zandavasta as praying behind the river Dáitya for victory over them.*

It is certain that the Dáitya, which has been identified with the Aras,*

the Kúr, and the Safíd Rúd,*

is to be looked for to the west of the Caspian. It is true that in another passage Gushtásp is represented as praying by Lake Frazdánava for victory over Arjásp and other foes,*

and that in the Pahlaví Texts this lake is described as being in Sagastán (Sístán),*

but the tendency at present seems to be in favour of identifying it with the Armenian river Hṛazdán,*

which will bring it into line with the other passages. It is only natural that the Chionitæ should leave their traces in Persian tradition, as they came on the scene at the epoch when the Zandavasta was being compiled.*

They are not mentioned by name in the Sháhnáma, but in Dakíkí's portion a peculiar word, “Paighú,” not found elsewhere in the poem, or at all events not in the texts used in the present translation, is occasionally employed with reference to the northern enemy.

Zarduhsht or Zardusht, as the name is varyingly spelt in the Sháhnáma, but more familiarly known to western readers as Zoroaster, naturally dominates the Zandavasta, of which he is the traditional author. His name therein appears as Zarathushtra, and many scholars have exercised their ingenuity as to its meaning. Perhaps the best interpretation divides the word into “zar” and “ushtra.” The reader may be reminded, that Sám, on recover­ing his outcast son, gave him the name of Zál-i-zar or Zál the old.*

“Ushtra” is the ancient form of the modern “ushtar,” camel. Zarathushtra therefore seems to mean “Old Camel,” or “He whose camels are old.” For reasons sufficiently weighty at the time when the Sháhnáma was written, the account given of him in that poem is of the briefest, and it is proposed therefore to amplify it from other traditional sources. According to these he was born in B.C. 660—the year of the accession of Sháh Gushtásp.*

His father's name was Pourushaspa,*

his mother's Dughdhóvá.*

His father's home seems to have been situated in a valley*

on the upper bank of the river Dareja,*

best identified with the modern Daryai Rúd, also known as the Kara su, or “Blackwater,” which flows from Mount Savalán, northward to the Aras.*

His mother, Dughdhóvá, seems to have been a native of the city or district of Rai, near Tihrán.*

Being the highly favoured among women as the destined mother of the Prophet, the divine Glory rested on her in a visible form from her birth. The demons, in­stinctively aware that it would not be to their interests to ignore this portent, smote the district where she lived with three plagues—excessive cold, pestilence, and oppressive enemies—and then suggested to the inhabitants that the girl was a witch, and therefore the cause of the trouble. Pourushaspa did his best to defend his daughter, affirming that such a radiance as proceeded from her was too brilliant to be accounted for on the score of witchcraft, but, owing to the pertinacity of the demons, the inter­ference of the Karap and Kavíg of the district, and the secret purpose of Providence to confound the wicked by their own devices, the girl was sent away to the house of her future father-in-law, thus directly bringing about the very result that the demons were most anxious to avoid.*

The Karaps and Kavígs, so called in the Pahlaví Texts, appear in the Zandavasta as Karpans and Kavis. The Karaps seem to have been the orthodox witch-doctors, or medicine-men, of a time when the separation, still in­complete, of the crafts of the priest, the leech, and the witch, not even had begun, and naturally they are held up to execration by the later orthodox Zoroastrian clergy. The Kavígs, equally repro­bated, perhaps represented the lay official element.*

The village to which the maligned maiden was exiled was the home of a family or clan called, from their eponymous ancestor, “Spítámas.” Zarduhsht thus became known to future times as Zarathushtra Spítáma. Urmuzd, it should be stated, had begun, in consultation with the ameshaspentas, to make arrangements for his birth 5970 years before it occurred.*

The procedure involved being some­what complex,*

it will suffice to say that the maiden Dugh-dhóvá was in due course espoused to Pourushaspa,*

that for three days before the Prophet came into the world the village was all luminous with the divine Glory to the great terror of the inhabi­tants, *

and that the babe was born laughing, to the discomfiture of the seven midwives that were in attendance.*

Dughdhóvá was fifteen years old when her son was born, and from that moment the divine Glory, which had encompassed her from her birth, passed to him.*

The situation seems to have been altogether too much for Pourushaspa, who appears to have felt and acted just as Sám did on the occasion of the birth of Zál.*

Especially, he was perturbed at the laughter of the babe at birth, and was only too eager to be rid of his uncanny offspring. Accordingly, he called in the most famous medicine-man of the district, by name Dúrás­róbó, who at once attempted to lay violent hands upon the babe, but they became so twisted that he never could feed himself again.*

He, however, so wrought upon the father that the latter tried several times to put the child to death. He made a pyre of wood and laid Zarduhsht thereon; placed him on a narrow path and drove cattle along it; set him beside a pool and brought horses to water there; but all his endeavours proved fruitless. The fire would not burn the babe, while the foremost ox and horse stood over him till the rest of the herds had passed. The child was then left in the den of a wolf, whose cubs just before had been slaughtered, but on each occasion the babe was recovered unhurt by the devoted mother, who indignantly informed her spouse that he was worse than the wolf!*

Dúrásróbó then brought upon the scene a malignant disciple of his own named Brádrók-résh, a sort of Balaam, who, though willing to injure Zarduhsht, yet was im­pelled to proclaim his future greatness. These two and the father still collogued, but all their plans were frustrated and their argu­ments refuted by the growing child. At length Dúrásróbó came to a bad end,*

but Brádrók-résh lived to be the slayer of the Prophet.*

Zarduhsht had four brothers, two elder, of course by another wife of his father's, and two younger.*

When he was fifteen years old, he and his brothers asked their father to bestow portions upon them, and he did so. Part of what was divided consisted of raiment, and from this Zarduhsht selected and assumed the girdle —a symbolical act like that of the assumption of the sacred cord by the twice-born in India. At the age of twenty he left his parents' house without their permission, and began the years of preparation that was to end in divine illumination later on. Of this period little is recorded except that he went about doing good, helping the weak and aged, and in times of scarcity giving his father's fodder to feed other men's cattle, which were so hungry that, as the original record puts it, they constantly ate off each other's tails.*

He is said also to have abandoned worldly desires, but this did not prevent his marrying, partly, as it would seem, to please his parents. He showed, however, his good sense by asking to see the face of the proposed bride before espousing her. Also he attended the assembly of the wise, and asked them ques­tions. *

On the day Dai pa Mihr of the month Ardíbihisht, or, in our prosaic modern equivalent, on May 5th, B.C. 630, when he was thirty years old, the Revelation came to him. The ame-shaspenta Vohu Manau (Vohúman, Bahman)*

met him in the neighbourhood, probably, of the Safíd Rúd, or White River, in Ázarbáiján,*

and bore him to the presence of Urmuzd and to the other five ameshaspentas. When Zarduhsht arrived within twenty-four feet of them, he ceased to see his own shadow on the ground owing to the universally diffused radiance that proceeded from them. In the conference with Urmuzd that ensued, Zar-duhsht was informed that the three perfections of the embodied world were good thoughts, good words, and good deeds; that to recognise the ameshaspentas as such, i.e. as immortal benefactors, was good; that to behold them was better; and that to obey them was best of all. He was instructed also in the doctrine of Dualism. The vision occurred thrice on that day, and Zarduhsht underwent three ordeals—walking on fire, having molten metal poured on his chest and holding it in his hand, and being wounded with a knife and healed by the passing of hands over the place, so that in time to come the faithful also might be enabled to endure the like for the glory of the good religion.*

Inspired by this revelation, Zarduhsht began his missionary labours, attempting in the first instance to convert the assembled Kavígs and Karaps. He appealed to them to accept the religion of Urmuzd, to forego demon-worship, and to adopt the principle of next of kin marriages. With regard to this last article, it is diffi­cult to rise superior to inherited taboos and not feel a certain sympathy with Zarduhsht's hearers when we read that at this point they rushed upon him and strove to put him to death.*

We may, however, acquit Zarduhsht, or at least the Zarathushtra of the Gáthas, of ever having advocated such a doctrine, first on the general principle that it never would have occurred to one who not yet had made a single disciple, it being a device far more suitable to a Faith in extremis, and secondly, because it is not advocated in the Gáthas themselves. Next of kin marriages, of course, occurred in ancient times between exalted, almost divine, personages regarded as being above the customary taboos, but such marriages were not peculiar to Zoroastrians.*

Other at­tempts of Zarduhsht to spread his evangel are recorded, in the course of which he is said to have journeyed as far east as Sístán,*

but all proved fruitless. It was not till ten years after his receipt of the Revelation that he made his first convert—his cousin Maidhyó-maungha, the son of Árásti, who was Pourushaspa's brother.*

During these ten years Zarduhsht appears to have returned from time to time to his own home, apparently for the winter months, and to have received at such seasons a series of further Revelations from each of the six ameshaspentas in turn.*

Time, however, was slipping by; ten years had passed, only one convert had been made, and in despair the Prophet again appealed to Urmuzd, received the complete Revelation, the sacred formula wherewith to smite the fiends—the formula known as the Ahuna Vairya, beginning, “The will of the Lord is the law of righteous­ness,”—and was warned that he would be assailed by the demons.*

The warning was needed. He was attacked at the moment of his greatest spiritual exaltation. The demon Búiti made the first assault, but was repulsed. Next came the evil counterpart of the ameshaspenta Vohu Manau—Akem Manau (“Bad thought”)*

— with his malignant riddles; but Zarduhsht pelted him with stones. Lastly, Áhriman came on the scene in person. All that was required of the Prophet was that he should worship as his mother worshipped—a very subtle form of temptation. Let him but renounce the good religion, and the sovereignty of the whole world should be his; but Zarduhsht refused, chanted the Ahuna Vairya, and foiled the tempter.*

Another trial, against which Urmuzd had warned him, was still to come. One of the medicine-men of the old religion assumed the form of the female ame-shaspenta Sapandármad, and accosted him. Now Zarduhsht had had opportunities of seeing the true Sapandármad, and knew that she was in all respects well formed and lovely while her imper­sonator would be fair in front but hideous behind. He therefore bade the temptress turn herself round. After protesting vainly, she did so; her falsity became evident, and the phantasm was annihilated.*

Inspired by Urmuzd, Zarduhsht now determined on a bold step—that of attempting to convert Sháh Gushtásp to the Faith. The “terrible conflict,” as tradition calls it, that ensued lasted two years,*

for the Evangelist was opposed des­perately by the medicine-men whom he found in possession at that monarch's court.*

We may lay the scene at Balkh. The first interview between Zarduhsht and Gushtásp seems to have taken place on the riding-ground. At first, as the expression “terrible conflict” implies, the Prophet came off badly. The king, it is true, was inclined to give ear to him, but his opponents, fearful lest he should prevail with Gushtásp, induced the latter to imprison him and leave him to starve to death.*

At this moment, however, Providence intervened with regard to a transaction, the account of which exists only in fragments and allusions in the older authorities. Here, therefore, we have to turn for a consecutive narrative to the Zartusht-náma, a poetical version of the life of the Prophet, written by one of the faithful, Zartusht Bahrám Pazhdú by name, apparently at Rai, near Tihrán, and finished on August 12th, A.D. 1278.*

We learn from this that Zarduhsht's opponents, worsted by him in argument at a three days' conference held before the king, concealed abomi­nations in his house and then accused him of sorcery. Gushtásp ordered search to be made, the incriminating articles were found, and Zarduhsht was cast into prison. Now, while he was lan­guishing there, a mysterious and unprecedented event occurred. The legs of the king's favourite black horse were drawn up into the animal's body, and king, court, and people were all in consternation. Zarduhsht heard of the matter through the keeper of the prison, and offered to heal the steed on four con­ditions. Gushtásp accepted them seriatim, and, as he did so, Zar-duhsht drew forth from the body of the horse its four legs one by one. The conditions were, that Gushtásp should acknowledge Zarduhsht to be a true prophet; that Asfandiyár should become the champion of the true religion; that Zarduhsht should have facilities for converting the queen; and that his false accusers should be punished. It need hardly be added that with the re­storation of the fourth leg the steed became as well as ever.*

We learn from the same authority that Gushtásp, eager perhaps to avail himself to the utmost of such a unique opportunity, made in his turn four requests of Zarduhsht. These were, that the king's future doom should be revealed to him; that he should become invulnerable; that he should know both the past and the future; and that he should be undying till the Resurrection. Zarduhsht said that he would pray that these boons should be granted, but that the king must be content to ask only one of the four, whichever he preferred, for himself, and leave the other three for others. Gushtásp agreed to this; Zarduhsht withdrew to his own abode, and spent the night in prayer. The next morning a great marvel happened. Four heavenly messengers, two of them being ameshaspentas, sent by Urmuzd, arrived at court and exhorted Gushtásp to be firm in the Faith proclaimed to him by Zarduhsht, to cherish that Prophet, and to obey him in all things. The king swooned on his throne, but on his recovery promised full obedience to the divine injunctions, and the angelic band departed. Zarduhsht then prepared to perform the Darún. In the present day this is a ceremony held on behalf of some particular person, who is mentioned by name in the course of it, at the end of which the ceremonial wafer-bread—the Darún—is broken into pieces and partaken of first by the celebrant and the other priests present, and then by the rest of the congregation.*

Zarduhsht, however, on the occasion of which we write, propared four things—wine, perfumes, milk, and a pomegranate. Gushtásp drank of the wine and slept. In his sleep he had a vision of Paradise, and saw his own place therein—the boon that he had desired. Bishútan drank of the milk, and became immortal. Jámásp smelt of the perfumes, and immediately became possessed of all knowledge. Asfandiyár ate of the pomegranate, became invulnerable, and thus acquired the title of “the brazen-bodied.”*

From this point, as easily may be imagined, the cause of the good religion began to prosper; but the serious opposition known as “The War of the Religion” was still to come, and this we shall find set forth in the Sháhnáma itself.*